While that sounds nice, last years team returned 21 of 22 starters, so the whole "Free agent guys who don't know eachother" doesnt really hold any water to me. Blame it on Titus and Injuries, im down, but saying the chemistry is off from the year before when you have almost the same team sounds weird.

While that sounds nice, last years team returned 21 of 22 starters, so the whole "Free agent guys who don't know eachother" doesnt really hold any water to me. Blame it on Titus and Injuries, im down, but saying the chemistry is off from the year before when you have almost the same team sounds weird.

He was referring to all the guys on contract years, not recently signed FAs. He was saying that many of the players didn't know if they were going to be on the team next year and it was causing them to play for themselves and not the team.

March 15th, 2013, 11:27 am

DJ-B

Pro Bowl Player

Joined: April 5th, 2007, 5:51 pmPosts: 2563

Re: Killer's Korner

Roger, that makes more sense. And while it is to be expected to some degree, managing that is part of the FO's job.

Roger, that makes more sense. And while it is to be expected to some degree, managing that is part of the FO's job.

I think more of the blame falls on the coaches. They are in the locker room and work directly with the players. The coaches should have been aware of these issues and either quelled them or spoke with the FO to make the needed changes. Leaving that many guys on 1 year deals was part of the problem, but your FO isn't going to be close enough to the players to know how much it's causing a problem with the players if the coaches don't bring it to their attention.

March 15th, 2013, 12:05 pm

DJ-B

Pro Bowl Player

Joined: April 5th, 2007, 5:51 pmPosts: 2563

Re: Killer's Korner

Yeah, I was lumping in the coaches when I said FO, but should have clarified. I dont blame the players as much as the rest of the staff.

I'm sure this was posted on here when it first was made, but I just saw it again and figured it'd be worth posting. I've grown into a Stafford fan and I think he has what it takes to lead us successful Lions team into the playoffs again soon.

March 18th, 2013, 12:11 am

m2karateman

RIP Killer

Joined: October 20th, 2004, 4:16 pmPosts: 10398Location: Where ever I'm at now

Re: Killer's Korner

rao wrote:

DJ-B wrote:

While that sounds nice, last years team returned 21 of 22 starters, so the whole "Free agent guys who don't know eachother" doesnt really hold any water to me. Blame it on Titus and Injuries, im down, but saying the chemistry is off from the year before when you have almost the same team sounds weird.

He was referring to all the guys on contract years, not recently signed FAs. He was saying that many of the players didn't know if they were going to be on the team next year and it was causing them to play for themselves and not the team.

Well, if they were playing for themselves they sure did a crummy job of it. Avril didn't impress, and he was the biggest name to become available. Chris Houston was steady, and as a result got his contract from the team. I didn't see him as "playing for himself". I think it's true that some guys in contract years do play differently. Some of them have monumental years that they never are able to replicate, and some of them play it safe and have off years that lead to a lukewarm reception into the free agent market. Either way, they are paid to play a team game, and that SHOULD be the way they approach. Sadly, too many don't.

_________________I will not put on blinders when it comes to our QBs performances.

While that sounds nice, last years team returned 21 of 22 starters, so the whole "Free agent guys who don't know eachother" doesnt really hold any water to me. Blame it on Titus and Injuries, im down, but saying the chemistry is off from the year before when you have almost the same team sounds weird.

He was referring to all the guys on contract years, not recently signed FAs. He was saying that many of the players didn't know if they were going to be on the team next year and it was causing them to play for themselves and not the team.

Well, if they were playing for themselves they sure did a crummy job of it. Avril didn't impress, and he was the biggest name to become available. Chris Houston was steady, and as a result got his contract from the team. I didn't see him as "playing for himself". I think it's true that some guys in contract years do play differently. Some of them have monumental years that they never are able to replicate, and some of them play it safe and have off years that lead to a lukewarm reception into the free agent market. Either way, they are paid to play a team game, and that SHOULD be the way they approach. Sadly, too many don't.

Playing for themselves is exactly why they did a crummy job. It's a team game and trying to just "get yours" on the stat sheet usually will end with a person getting worse stats. They weren't concerned with what their teammates were doing and it caused breakdowns in the defense. If you have half your defense all jumping out of position because they need to pad their stat sheet, then no one is going to be able to make the play because the opposing offense can attack the huge openings left by those players. Chris Houston was the guy making the comment, so unless he is just a hypocrite I think it was assumed he wasn't one of the players "playing for himself".

March 19th, 2013, 10:18 am

m2karateman

RIP Killer

Joined: October 20th, 2004, 4:16 pmPosts: 10398Location: Where ever I'm at now

Re: Killer's Korner

I would venture to say that some guys did play for themselves, one of them being Avril. However, this defense wasn't poor because of that alone. Our defense has been bad for close to two decades now, so it's ridiculous to try and blame last seasons poor performance on 'contract years' for certain players. This organization hadn't invested its high draft picks on good players for years. Finally Mayhew invests on the d-line, which helped Avril become more productive and he goes and gets greedy. Poor picks and questionable coaching is more criminally liable than just certain individuals playing to avoid injury or to pad their stats for a new contract.

_________________I will not put on blinders when it comes to our QBs performances.

March 19th, 2013, 1:11 pm

wjb21ndtown

Re: Killer's Korner

m2karateman wrote:

I would venture to say that some guys did play for themselves, one of them being Avril. However, this defense wasn't poor because of that alone. Our defense has been bad for close to two decades now, so it's ridiculous to try and blame last seasons poor performance on 'contract years' for certain players. This organization hadn't invested its high draft picks on good players for years. Finally Mayhew invests on the d-line, which helped Avril become more productive and he goes and gets greedy. Poor picks and questionable coaching is more criminally liable than just certain individuals playing to avoid injury or to pad their stats for a new contract.

I agree completely.

Our D is bad because we haven't had a starting caliber SS, #2 CB (well, I guess you could say Houston is a really good #2, we've just been using him as our #1... ) or WLB for more than three seasons, and our SLB and MLB are mediocre at best.

The issues on our D are more personnel related than "contract" related.

I would venture to say that some guys did play for themselves, one of them being Avril. However, this defense wasn't poor because of that alone. Our defense has been bad for close to two decades now, so it's ridiculous to try and blame last seasons poor performance on 'contract years' for certain players. This organization hadn't invested its high draft picks on good players for years. Finally Mayhew invests on the d-line, which helped Avril become more productive and he goes and gets greedy. Poor picks and questionable coaching is more criminally liable than just certain individuals playing to avoid injury or to pad their stats for a new contract.

How did this become a conversation of why the defense is bad? I never said anything about the defense only being bad because of what Houston stated. I was only clarifying my point on why I felt a player playing for stats to get a better contract can be bad.

An active Detroit Lions player will not grace the cover of the Madden video game series for a second consecutive year, but a Hall of Famer remains alive in the voting.

Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford was bounced in the first round of the 64-player tournament -- consistent of current players and legends -- to determine a cover athlete for the 25th anniversary edition of the game.

Stafford was defeated by Tampa Bay Bucs running back Doug Martin, who claimed 53 percent of the vote in the head-to-head matchup.

Going forward, the Lions will be represented by retired running back Barry Sanders, who trounced former Chicago Bears linebacker, and current Carolina Panthers coach, Ron Rivera.

Sanders received a staggering 95 percent of the vote and will be matched up against another legendary running back in the round 32, former Los Angeles Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs standout Marcus Allen.

Lions receiver Calvin Johnson was the cover athlete last season, emerging victorious in a similar 64-player bracket. He edged Panthers quarterback Cam Newton in the finals to claim the honor.

BRISTOL, Conn. -- I'm starting the trek back to NFC North blog headquarters Thursday morning and will be back to full blogging speed by the afternoon. In the meantime, let's pass along some interesting information made public Wednesday by the NFL Players Association.

The NFLPA took the rare step of releasing salary cap totals for each team, presumably to demonstrate how much money has yet to be spent during free agency. There are no egregious offenders in the NFC North, at least not without good reason, so let's take a quick look at the NFLPA's numbers.

Chicago Bears: $3.95 million in available space

Detroit Lions: $6.8 million

Green Bay Packers: $17.8 million

Minnesota Vikings: $4.4 million

These totals line up with other media reports as well as my own resources. Keep in mind it takes anywhere from $2 million-$5 million to sign a draft class, depending on its size and the position of each pick. The Bears, Lions and Vikings are all below the average availability of $9.6 million per team. The Packers' relatively high total is available in part because they are working to sign quarterback Aaron Rodgers and linebacker Clay Matthews to long-term extensions.

BRISTOL, Conn. -- I'm starting the trek back to NFC North blog headquarters Thursday morning and will be back to full blogging speed by the afternoon. In the meantime, let's pass along some interesting information made public Wednesday by the NFL Players Association.

The NFLPA took the rare step of releasing salary cap totals for each team, presumably to demonstrate how much money has yet to be spent during free agency. There are no egregious offenders in the NFC North, at least not without good reason, so let's take a quick look at the NFLPA's numbers.

Chicago Bears: $3.95 million in available space

Detroit Lions: $6.8 million

Green Bay Packers: $17.8 million

Minnesota Vikings: $4.4 million

These totals line up with other media reports as well as my own resources. Keep in mind it takes anywhere from $2 million-$5 million to sign a draft class, depending on its size and the position of each pick. The Bears, Lions and Vikings are all below the average availability of $9.6 million per team. The Packers' relatively high total is available in part because they are working to sign quarterback Aaron Rodgers and linebacker Clay Matthews to long-term extensions.